Unclaimed $15M lottery ticket sold last August in B.C. set to expire

Someone in British Columbia could be sitting on a lottery ticket worth a whopping $15 million – but there's only a few weeks left to claim the jackpot.

The B.C. Lottery Corporation said the Lotto Max ticket was purchased last summer in Vancouver, and matched all seven numbers in the Aug. 13, 2021 draw: 1, 14, 17, 20, 28, 32 and 38.

"Where were you last August?" the BCLC asked in a news release. "Be sure to check your beach bags, suitcases, glove boxes or anywhere else for a winning $15 million Lotto Max ticket."

Lottery winners have 52 weeks to get their ducks in a row and claim their prize, which means this lucky ticket will expire at midnight on Aug. 13, 2022 if no one comes forward.

The specific location where the ticket was sold will only be announced after the winner is identified.

While the ticket-holder may not be aware of their good fortune, there have been lottery winners who chose to wait until the last minute for a variety of reasons, foregoing sizeable sums of interest they could have potentially accumulated on top of their prize money.

The Mayrhofer family from Langley came forward just five days before their $50 million Lotto Max prize expired back in 2015. Lottery officials said the family, whom they described as "very shy," had been trying to work out an arrangement that would keep their name private.

Lottery winners' names are almost always made public in the interest of transparency.

According to the BCLC website, unclaimed prize money from national draws such as Lotto Max and Lotto 6/49 is "returned to players through future bonus games or promotions."

Unclaimed money from games only offered in B.C. is "accounted for annually as part of BCLC's net income and provided to the provincial government to benefit the people of British Columbia."

The odds of winning a Lotto Max jackpot, which requires matching all seven numbers without using the bonus number, are said to be about one in 33.3 million.